Chinese Anger Over the Collapse of Many School Buildings
Shoddy construction and corruption are blamed for the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in the May 12 earthquake
Reader Comments
fighting
Helen Keller said 'Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight.' . In my opinion, only the people who survived the catastrophe can understand the meaning of life. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
Deborah Davis , wake up please!
The opponion from Deborah Davis is polarized,
the commentary is not fair
"Most government buildings, although damaged, remained standing." Is that really the case? Actually many Communist Party members or leaders lost their lives in the catastrophe and their homes destroyed. It's a Magnitude 8.0 earthquake. Do you know what that means???
I am a Chinese.When I saw the scene from national CCTV, I first feel the building is so fragile,I also have the same angry, but my parent tell me the buildings collapsed seem are all builded by old building standard, "precast slab", which is common used in building in 1970-80s, is very fragile in such huge quake. Some buildings that are still standing are builded by new building standard.Not all govement buildings are remain standing, some govement buildings are also collapsed, specially in poor area. Maybe some local officals have corruption problem in building, but I trust the centre govement will give we a satisfying answer.
the commentary is wrong
FIRST:Do you known what was 8.0 magnitude earthquack? That's a destructive disaster! If you set up a safty building in any country,can you guarantee it can Save and sound in this terrible catastrophe?
Why you get the conclusion for the construction problem? It's so subjective.
SECOND:The only-one child policy is very suitable for China.They real policy is that they always can have two chindren if they are living in rural area. If you not now the real policy,you should not had the right to write the commentary!
THIRD:Relate the shoddy production, why we didn't belame our importer? they import the disqualification for us,and they can porfit far more than Chinese.
quantity over quality...
Yes, anger was probably my initial response when I first heard the story, even though I live in the US and have never been a parent. Of course, it hurts even more when such loss happens to those who had so little to begin with.
What will it take to convince people that quality matters more than quantity when greed is part of human nature? China seems to be so caught up with mass production and consumption that people rarely stop to check or demand quality. And it's not just the quality of consumer goods that I am referring to, it applies to the quality of air, standard of living, infrastructure, education, health care, etc. There is no easy solution, and it takes more than just money to change people's beliefs, perspectives, and values.
Globalization, economic boom, and newfound freedom are all great, but I worry that all of this rapid growth is built on a very shaky foundation...
"""iI's a sad commentary that C.hina not only exports shoddy product but also produces them,or in this case manufactures homes, schools ectetera in their own country. Tsk Tsk China. The whole world is ashamed of you."""""""""""
the whole world ashamed of you,not China...you just a sb or something..don't comment on this humbly...
Only the quality is the reason?
The opponion from Deborah Davis is polarized. Firstly, He have the strong descrimination to the Chinese, and the production made in China. So you are not qualified to launch the comment here. Secondly, Davis should not have related the collapse of school buildings with the dignity of a country. Obviously, there are many shobby productions made in U.S.A, but can we endure the insulte? Thirdly, There are several reasons why the school buildings collapsed, such as the long period from the construction, and the amptitude of the earthquake.
China Will Learn and stand up more firmly
It is always sad for Chinese to read foreign reports like this one,especially when the ariticle mentioned China leadership is sort of falling back on old habits. What I wish to say is that China after this earthquake will be very much different, the so-called civic society is building up stronger, the people-oriented policy will be thoroughly implemented.
China as a nation has weathered heaps of difficulites. The most difficult one is surpass herself. As a proud and concerning Chinese living overseas, I wish and I believe my homeland can one day be the proud of thid planet,not just the epicenter of hatred words and non-responsible schadenfreude.
China to some extent can only be called modern China for the last 30 years since the beginning of Opening UP. But we will catch up. Wait and See.
